Research

Research at MITIE
Research is a fundamental part of MITIE's commitment to health care leadership. MITIE’s state-of-the-art virtual surgery center enable clinicians to develop and integrate new technologies into their practices, such as the use of image-guided technology and robotic surgery. We serve as a core facility for researchers to foster their work with access to our sophisticated surgical and simulation environments for the latest in less invasive and more precise surgical procedures. Examples of our research efforts translating into practical applications include:

Assessing Technical Expertise: The use of thermal imaging, with a special camera focused on a surgeon’s face while performing a surgical procedure, quantitatively measures a surgeon’s level of stress as well as procedural competence. This technique was developed by Dr. Barbara Lee Bass and University of Houston computer scientist, Dr. Ionnis Pavlidis.

Telementoring to Develop Expertise: A lack of mentorship while learning a new procedure is a significant barrier to implementing into successful practice; therefore, MITIE researchers developed technology that allows practicing surgeons to communicate wirelessly with MITIE experts to receive the necessary guidance from afar during a procedure.

Supporting a Surgeon’s First Procedure: A sophisticated research environment allows MITIE scientists to develop and rehearse new procedures on simulators, rather than real patients; once perfected, the operation can then be performed safely on patients.